Chapter 39: The Drive Home

The car ride was quiet. Not the peaceful kind of quiet — but the heavy, heart-sore kind. The kind that settled in the air like fog and clung to the windows, thick with everything unspoken. Jessica kept glancing at Amelia in the passenger seat. Her arms were wrapped around herself, her gaze fixed out the window, her eyes puffy and red from crying. She hadn’t said much beyond a soft thank you when Jess had guided her into the car and pulled away from the small-town diner. She looked so small, so distant — like parts of her were still trapped back in that cold house with the people who should’ve protected her… but didn’t. Jessica gripped the wheel tighter. “They had no right,” she said quietly, breaking the silence. “Your aunt. Your cousin. Taking your things like that.” Amelia didn’t a